Partners & Licensing

Overview

Intellectual Property

Clean Diesel’s fundamental value proposition is built on its solid intellectual property position.  This includes an extensive portfolio of patents, regulatory approvals, technology and the related know-how associated with the understanding and implementation of technology into applications and the regulatory schemes that drive such a business.

This opens up significant opportunities for our partners and customers to market and implement their own systems, protected and enhanced by our intellectual property. It remains Clean Diesel’s strategic mission to continually improve and expand its technology and patent coverage.

Patents

CDT has a large number of US and international patents covering the use of fuel-borne catalysts (FBCs) for particulate matter control and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) for NOx control of diesel engine exhaust emissions.

Fuel-Borne Catalyst

CDT has over 100 US and international patents granted on the use of platinum and combined platinum/cerium-based FBCs, notably when used in conjunction with various catalyzed and uncatalyzed emissions control devices. These patents cover the use of platinum on its own or in combination with cerium or iron-based FBCs. When used with exhaust emissions control devices, such as Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF), partial filters including the Catalyzed Wire Mesh Filter and Diesel Oxidation catalysts (DOC), these technologies offer the following advantages:

  1. Create a more active FBC, reducing the amount of base cerium and iron required to treat the fuel
  2. Allow substantial reduction in the amount of platinum used in the manufacture of catalytic devices
  3. Limit the emissions of NO2, a gas very much more toxic than NO. NO2 emissions are traditionally increased by heavily catalyzed conventional devices
  4. Improve the soot conversion of the emissions control device (DOC), leading to higher soot reductions
  5. Improve the reliability and the life of the device

Clean Diesel patents also cover product dosing and delivery strategies, multiple families of fuel-borne catalysts and formulation technologies, and the use of cerium-based and other FBCs when applied with catalyzed and uncatalyzed aftertreatment devices.

SCR

Clean Diesel has nine US and corresponding international patent families covering Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) using urea, which is a highly effective method of reducing NOx. These patents teach how to successfully apply the proven SCR process for mobile applications, transferring the learning from over 30 years of SCR use in power generation, with emission control that is sulfur tolerant, and can be used with all types of fuel. Clean Diesel’s patents also include the delivery of reductants from solid, liquid and gaseous form. Clean Diesel’s ARIS forms a key part of the SCR system and is an advanced, computer-controlled, reagent injection system. The system covers a concept for injecting urea into the engine exhaust where it reacts across a catalyst, to reduce NOx to nitrogen and water vapor.

The ARIS system is a single-fluid system with very few components, and which doesn't require compressed air. These fundamental patents covers single-fluid systems, methods of control and the combination of SCR with exhaust gas recirculation technology (EGR). This SCR-EGR combination is preferred by industry leading vehicle manufacturers in new diesel engines to maximize the NOx reduction and fuel efficiency.

Approvals and Verification

Clean Diesel has worked effectively in the past 10 years to secure a number of strategic approvals and verifications. These allow our customers and partners to participate in active programs by taking advantage of our broad coverage of approved technologies and allowing a competitive advantage.

In Europe, our platinum and cerium fuel-borne catalyst has undergone testing and approval by the Swiss VERT program, thereby allowing its use with a DPF for the majority of EU countries. We have also gained specific approvals with a number of European member states, where grants are available for retrofit emission control programs. These include the UK, Denmark and Switzerland.

In the US, our platinum and cerium FBC is US EPA-registered, and we have a number of FBC/emissions control systems already verified by the EPA. Again, these provide our partners with the opportunity to adopt our technology to market their own systems under our approvals.

Clean Diesel continues developments and testing of new technologies, including verification programs with environmental authorities around the world.